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RINO
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[[File:Kel-rino.jpg|thumb|250px|Sergeant [[Jesse Kelly]] runs for Congress in Arizona in 2009 and attacks the RINOs in the GOP]]
A '''RINO''' ('''R'''epublican '''i'''n '''N'''ame '''O'''nly) is an officeholder or candidate who is a member of the [[Republican Party]], but holds views to the political left of most Republican voters, or simply does whatever the [[liberal media]] wants. The term "RINO" describes politicians who claim to be [[Republican Party|Republican]] but are in fact [[liberal]] or puppets of the liberal media, and therefore generally debase the winning [[conservative]] coalition base of the Republican Party. Since elected GOP officials tend to be less conservative than the party base, a relatively large number of RINOs are entrenched members of the party organization. They also tend to resort to [[cronyism]] to fill key government positions, and often are career politicians. Some conservative commentators have also referred to them as '''RUNT'''s ('''R'''epublican '''U'''nder '''N'''ominal '''T'''erms),<ref>Kassam, Raheem (September 27, 2017). [https://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/09/27/size-matters-9-point-alabama-win-forced-corker-out-others-follow/ Size Matters: The 9-Point Alabama Win Is What Forced Corker out, Others May Follow]. ''Breitbart News''. Retrieved September 30, 2017.</ref> while another, less frequently used term for them is a '''[[DIAN]]''' ('''D'''emocrat '''i'''n '''A'''ll but '''N'''ame) because of their embracing of most of the [[Democrat Party]]'s social and fiscal platforms while operating nominally as a Republican.<ref>[https://www.commdiginews.com/politics-2/democrat-cochran-dian-mississippi-20274/ In bed with Democrats, Cochran now a DIAN: Democrat In All But Name] at Communities Digital News</ref> RINOs have been said to be "controlled opposition" to the Democrats - with the Democrats doing the controlling.<ref>[https://www.quora.com/What-is-a-RINO-republican What is a RINO Republican?]</ref>
RINOs are often Republican only to the extent it serves their own interests, and will abandon conservative principles as soon as it is in their own interests to do so. RINOs often provide support for raising taxes, [[abortion]] as [[Pro-choice|a "right"]], [[homosexual rights|homosexual "rights"]] and [[gun control]]. Some RINOs have connections with [[Planned Parenthood]] or corporations that support goals of [[population control]]; other RINOs pay lip service to [[pro-life]] values while in practice not advancing those values. Examples include [[John Kasich]] and [[Chris Christie]].
Another common brand of RINOs tend to be somewhat conservative on social and fiscal policy, but support unrestricted [[immigration]] and [[open borders]] policies, usually in an attempt to pander to Hispanics and Asians who they claim are socially conservative. These groups continue to vote [[Democrat]] in large numbers anyways despite the pandering. They also tend to support [[neoconservative]] foreign policy. Examples include [[Jeb Bush]], [[Nikki Haley]], [[Jeff Flake]], [[Lindsey Graham]], [[Dan Crenshaw]] and [[Marco Rubio]].
[[Double standard]]s by RINOs are common: a birther comment by [[Romney]] during his campaign was supposedly a "nothing", but [[Todd Akin]]'s [[pro-life]] comment would somehow "absolutely" cost RINOs control of the [[U.S. Senate]]!<ref>http://content.usatoday.com/communities/onpolitics/post/2012/08/todd-akin-rape-missouri-senate-race-reince-priebus-/1#.UDpUhNZlQ7s</ref>
RINOs typically come from [[Democrat]] strongholds in [[New England]], the Mid-Atlantic; or states on the [[Left Coast]] where local GOP organizations are weak or nonexistent. Many are Reform-Democrats who cannot advance in corrupt Democrat political machines. A less-used term is '''cafeteria conservative''', for a person who picks and chooses which [[conservative]] principles to believe, as a person might choose foods in a cafeteria instead of ordering the full-course ''menu'' selected by the chef at most restaurants.<ref>[http://www.manp.org/association-spotlight/archives/james-carville-mary-matalin-he-said-she-said James Carville & Mary Matalin: He Said, She Said]</ref> In contrast to RINO's and cafeteria conservatives, [[movement conservative]]s understand that since conservative philosophy is a coherent whole, it is untenable to discard part of it without discarding all of it.
A majority of the [[Young Republicans]] leadership are also RINOs and use the [[Twitter]] hashtag #RINOsUnite and #YRMafia.
The RINO targets of attack argue they follow [[middle of the road]] policies and are not liberals; they claim they get results, and insist that without them the [[United States Congress|Congress]] would be totally controlled by liberal Democrats and Republicans would rarely have any success. Conservatives respond that in the heyday of "Rockefeller liberalism" in the GOP the Democrats always controlled Congress, and the GOP only took power when [[Newt Gingrich]] launched a national conservative "Contract with America" in 1994, ending 40 years of Democrat control of the [[United States House of Representatives|House]]. The notion that we need to elect Democrat-lite type of politicians is false. The election cycles of 2010 and 2012 proved that many RINO candidates are unelectable. RINO candidates wasted millions of dollars; Meg Whitman, Scott Brown, Linda McMahon, and many others could not connect with the people in liberal blue states.
In recent Republican [[Primary election|primaries]], voters have been rejecting establishment RINOs in favor of those with stronger conservative principles. Their commitment to self and not party is evident in their refusal to endorse the candidate that beats them. In some instances, they refuse the will of the voters and their party by running for office on an [[Independent candidate|independent ticket]]. It is important to vote for someone who's more conservative on the issues rather than for a Republican because anyone can join a party and be they can be RINOs.
In Presidential primaries, however, RINOs are often heavily favored. In 2008 and 2012, RINOs [[John McCain]] and [[Mitt Romney]] were nominated, respectively and RINOs such as [[Chris Christie]] were considered for 2016. President Trump has since worked to expose the RINOs, accurately calling them 'the lowest form of human life.<ref>https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-calls-rinos-lowest-form-human-life-six-days-out-election-1543080</ref>
[[Mitch McConnell]], the Senate Minority Leader, is a RINO.
==Former RINOs who have since left the Republican Party==
[[File:Specter-0.jpg|thumbnail|200px|right|[[Arlen Specter]] ]]
* Former [[New Mexico]] Governor [[Gary Johnson]] supports same-sex "marriage" and abortion (although he opposes abortion once the fetus becomes viable outside the mother's body). After switching to the [[Libertarian Party]] in 2012 to run for President, he openly admitted that he governed New Mexico for eight years as a RINO, even using the phrase "Republican in name only" on multiple occasions. The Libertarian Party is [[liberal]] on social issues (with the exception that they support [[gun rights]]) but are fiscally very conservative.
* Former Senator [[Arlen Specter]] of [[Pennsylvania]] supported ObamaCare and switched from the Republican Party to the Democrat Party to give the latter a 60-40 edge in the Senate and allow them to enact [[cloture]] on the Republican [[filibuster]]. He had also been a Democrat until he switched to Republican affiliation in 1965 in his successful race for district attorney in [[Philadelphia]].
*Former [[New York City]] [[Mayor]] [[John V. Lindsay]] in 1969 won reelection on the Liberal Party slate and two years later switch to Democrat and fared poorly in a bid for his new party's presidential nomination.
*Former Senator [[Lincoln Chafee]] of [[Rhode Island]], who became an Independent in 2007. Turned Democrat in 2013.<ref>https://www.politico.com/story/2013/05/lincoln-chafee-to-switch-parties-sources-say-91994.html</ref>
*Former Senator Lowell Weicker of [[Connecticut]], who left the party and formed his own local one in 1990, then became an Independent in 1995.
*Former New York City Mayor [[Michael Bloomberg]], became an Independent in 2007. As it is not possible to campaign as an Independent in New York State, Bloomberg ran on the line of the [[Independence Party of New York]]. In 2020, he emerged as a failed candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination.
*Former Senator [[Jim Jeffords]] of [[Vermont]], who left the Party and became a Democrat in 2001, giving control of the [[United States Senate|Senate]] to the Democrats.
*Former Governor [[Charlie Crist]] of [[Florida]], who became an independent in 2010 after it was clear he would lose his Senate bid. Crist joined the [[Democrat Party]] in 2012.
*Former Representative [[John Anderson]] of [[Illinois]], who became an Independent after losing his party's presidential primary in 1980.
*Former Governor [[Buddy Roemer]] of [[Louisiana]], who became an Independent after losing his party's presidential primary in 2012.
*Disgraced former [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] Director [[James Comey]], who became an Independent in 2016.
*Representative [[Justin Amash]] supported impeachment of President [[Donald Trump]] and left the Republican Party in 2019 to become an Independent, before joining the [[Libertarian Party]] soon afterwards.
==RINO McCain==
[[File:John McCain official portrait 2009.jpg|thumbnail|200px|right|[[John McCain]] ]]
A majority of conservatives distrust RINO [[John McCain]] even though many of his policies are that of a true conservative. Key RINO principles rejected by McCain include support for [[gay rights]], support for [[abortion]], and support for [[earmark]]s. He has positioned his career as a bipartisan moderate, reaching across the aisle whenever possible. This is also his downfall. The era of reaching across the aisle passed—when [[statist]], [[socialist]] Democrats became Senators. His major political blunders mostly came during the 21st century political period. He was against both the Reagan and Bush [[tax cuts]], and employed [[class warfare]] rhetoric in trying to stop the tax cuts from taking effect. His support for amnesty was the complete opposite of what conservatives wanted. He has always complained about [[waterboarding|enhanced interrogation techniques]], calling them "[[torture]]". In non-election years, he likes to trash conservative positions and icons in order to get the [[Mainstream media|media]]'s and Democrats' approval. However, during the election he refused to go after [[Barack Hussein Obama]]'s associations with [[Jeremiah Wright]]. He believes in the junk science known as [[global warming]], and has supported cap-and-trade programs. Another [[Middle East]] war, without a goal, without full commitment to win, without Congressional approval- McCain supports the President. It didn't stop there and in July 2011, he called the [[Tea Party]], the people that care about fiscal sanity in Washington, "hobbits".<ref>http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/07/27/mccain-refers-to-tea-party-hobbits-blasts-bachmann-backed-idea/?hpt=hp_t1</ref>
The sacrifices he has made serving this country cannot be overlooked. John McCain has earned war hero status but also the status as a D.C. zero.
== See also ==
*[[RINO Backers]]
*[[Opposition to Donald Trump]]
*[[Never Trump movement]]
*[[Token conservative]]
*[[Republicans for Obama]]
*[[PLINO]] - [[pro-life]] in name only
*[[XINO]] - [[Christian]] in name only
*[[Catholic in name only]]
*[[Registered Republican]]
*[[Moderate Republican]]
*[[Conservative Democrat]]
*[[Blue Dog Democrat]]
*[[Reagan Democrat]]
*[[O’Sullivan’s First Law]]
*[[Steve Schmidt]]
*[[A.J. Delgado]]
*[[Republican Atheists]]
*[[Nancy Landon Kassebaum Baker]]
*[[Jacob Javits]]
*[[Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr.]]
*[[Rockefeller Republican]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
* [http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/05/05/1615233/in-senate-primary-california-republicans.html In Senate primary, California Republicans run away from RINO label]
* [http://www.commieblaster.com/RINO/index.html CommieBlaster RINO Index]
{{Republican establishment}}
{{Liberalism}}
[[Category:Establishment|*]]
[[Category:Conservative]]
[[Category:RINOs|*]]
[[Category:Featured articles]]
